Sharon Completes PFBF Half Marathon: How Did She Do?

It was a beautiful morning. Perfect day for a half marathon for the Special Olympics of Maine. PFBF has been putting on their 5K and half marathon for the past 3 years and year 4 turned out even BIGGER!

I had been running for a few months and even did 6 1/2 miles a few times getting ready. Being a 3 month member of Anytime Fitness and having their trainer, Jeremiah, put me through the paces to build up that muscle I would need to complete the race made the difference!

Photo by Mac Dickson

I was able to sing the National Anthem with Molly, a Special Olympian who was walking the 5K. She did a great job!

Then the horn went off at 8am. I was doing so well. There were water/Gatorade stations every mile starting at mile 2 and the conditions were perfect! When it started to get hot the clouds moved in and, had I finished in the time I was SUPPOSED to, I wouldn't have felt the heat that came along with the last 4 miles.

Mile 4 is what got me.

About 4.5 miles into the race, I turned my ankle. I shook it off thinking it was nothing and was actually doing pretty well. Then, 8.5 miles in is when it REALLY started to hurt.

It brought me to a walk. A LONG walk. I could jog very little but I wasn't going to let it stop me. And I have to say thank you to all the volunteers along the route. Their smiles and words of encouragement and endless supply of water and Gatorade really DID make a difference!

I was the very last finisher. When I turned the corner into First Park the 3 gentlemen on motorcycles gave me an escort and the cheering at the finish line was just as loud as all the other finishers had received.

They were so proud of me! And I was proud of me, too! So happy I did it I cried!

I received my medal at the end and promptly went to see Nick and Jeff at Delta Ambulance so they could check out my ankle. I'm fine, a little sore today but it will go away!

Thank you to Melissa Sawyer from PFBF for her encouraging emails and messages on Facebook. Thank you Anytime Fitness for all your training and the use of your facilities and trainer. Thank you for all the well wishes from all our listeners.

And thank you Anderson. When I got home and I showed him my medal he asked if he could have it for a minute. After a few he asked me to come upstairs where I had to close my eyes and take his hand. He lead me to my bedroom where he had stuck one of his pushpins from his Cars poster into the wall and hung it up "So you can see it every morning and see that you did it!" he says. He's proud of me and I hope it shows him you can do whatever you put your mind to.